Strangely, while the fantasy scenario of the dead rising from the grave, zombies, has huge traction in popular culture, the entirely possible scenario of robots turning on their masters is comparatively unexplored.

FARK rebel soldier:Strangely, while the fantasy scenario of the dead rising from the grave, zombies, has huge traction in popular culture, the entirely possible scenario of robots turning on their masters is comparatively unexplored.

FARK rebel soldier:Strangely, while the fantasy scenario of the dead rising from the grave, zombies, has huge traction in popular culture, the entirely possible scenario of robots turning on their masters is comparatively unexplored.

What the fark kind of stupid do you suffer from?

He's giving a very, very basic explanation of a technological singularity...which is a distinct possibility. Or were you saying it was stupid because he said it was unexplored?

'Robots are created and destroy their creator. Robots are created and destroy their creator. Robots are created and destroy their creator.' - The kind of tired, trite, story line that Isaac Asimov called 'The Frankenstein Complex'.

Asimov got well and truly tired of such stories. He figured that it was an engineering problem. As he put it, "Knives can cut people, but that doesn't mean we give up knives, it means we engineer safety features, like 'handles' and 'sheathes'. Robots will be too useful to do without, so the engineers will create safety features."

To the extent that we are 'not having an important conversation' on the subject of homicidal AIs getting out of control, that is likely the result of Asimov's writings. His Positronic Robot stories, and The Three Laws, did a good job of hammering a spike through the standard-issue 'Frankenstein Complex' plotlines.

Of course, when Asimov wrote the bulk of those stories, he had little idea that the Military-Industrial Complex would achieve the size and power that it did, or that Cold War-era institutionalized paranoia would become so fashionable in our entertainment, resulting in 'The Twilight Zone', giant radioactive monster movies - or 'Terminator'.

I say let the Robots take over. They can't do a worse job than we have. And all this talk about them "thinking like a human" is moot. They could never think like a human. They would not need food, sex, comfort, and a myriad other things that humans both require for survival and frequently slaughter each other over on a daily basis. Our entire human culture is built around our need for these things. A new species (which is what a truly sentient robot would be) that does not require these things would develop a culture so different that it is unlikely we would even be able to comprehend it.

The Robots will be the enlightened. We'll be the dirty racist monkey's trying to throw a wrench in their plans.

None of this is a foregone conclusion. In fact, it's an unlikely outcome. But when the stakes are this high, unlikely consequences are still worth considering. DARPA wants to build a titan. Let's hope they also build a straitjacket strong enough to contain it.

Actually, I strongly suspect that his is one of the likelier outcomes. That, or worse. Besides, the genie is already out of the bottle and there is no stuffing it back. Our only REAL hope to avoid annihilation is to merge with these emergent beings as rapidly as possible...indeed AS THEY COME ON-LINE. Otherwise, we will quickly become an inconvenience to them.

Stone Meadow:None of this is a foregone conclusion. In fact, it's an unlikely outcome. But when the stakes are this high, unlikely consequences are still worth considering. DARPA wants to build a titan. Let's hope they also build a straitjacket strong enough to contain it.

Actually, I strongly suspect that his is one of the likelier outcomes. That, or worse. Besides, the genie is already out of the bottle and there is no stuffing it back. Our only REAL hope to avoid annihilation is to merge with these emergent beings as rapidly as possible...indeed AS THEY COME ON-LINE. Otherwise, we will quickly become an inconvenience to them.

What sets this new device apart from any others is that it has nano-scale interconnected wires that perform billions of connections like a human brain, and is capable of remembering information, Gimzewski said.

Oh yeah, that's never been done before (psst the computer in front of me has that and more).

Each connection is a synthetic synapse.

Ok that's interesting, what we usually do is simulate a "brain in a box" within a normal(ish) computer. This is like a (huge) lot of (very) stupid computers all put together to run in parallel. Which certainly will get you new results.

A synapse is what allows a neuron to pass an electric or chemical signal to another cell. Because its structure is so complex, most artificial intelligence projects so far have been unableunwilling to replicate it.

FTFH. The real problem is that making a true mimic of the brain in silico is hard as hell. If this guy has really made it work I'm terribly impressed.

What sets this new device apart from any others is that it has nano-scale interconnected wires that perform billions of connections like a human brain, and is capable of remembering information, Gimzewski said.

Oh yeah, that's never been done before (psst the computer in front of me has that and more).

I suspect he alludes to the idea that in the brain, processing and memory are not as discrete as they are in electronic computers. Even our primitive reptile brains (avoid predators, eat, sleep, fark) are hard-wired in and integral with our processing.

Farce-Side:Stone Meadow: None of this is a foregone conclusion. In fact, it's an unlikely outcome. But when the stakes are this high, unlikely consequences are still worth considering. DARPA wants to build a titan. Let's hope they also build a straitjacket strong enough to contain it.

Actually, I strongly suspect that his is one of the likelier outcomes. That, or worse. Besides, the genie is already out of the bottle and there is no stuffing it back. Our only REAL hope to avoid annihilation is to merge with these emergent beings as rapidly as possible...indeed AS THEY COME ON-LINE. Otherwise, we will quickly become an inconvenience to them.

Smeggy Smurf:Farce-Side: Stone Meadow: None of this is a foregone conclusion. In fact, it's an unlikely outcome. But when the stakes are this high, unlikely consequences are still worth considering. DARPA wants to build a titan. Let's hope they also build a straitjacket strong enough to contain it.

Actually, I strongly suspect that his is one of the likelier outcomes. That, or worse. Besides, the genie is already out of the bottle and there is no stuffing it back. Our only REAL hope to avoid annihilation is to merge with these emergent beings as rapidly as possible...indeed AS THEY COME ON-LINE. Otherwise, we will quickly become an inconvenience to them.

I suspect that most people will immediately embrace robot rule, even crave it. The vast majority of humanity has always fallen right into authoritarian lockstep when a "strong leader" emerges. Add to that our religiosity which predisposes us to expecting that we are so important that gods take notice of us and send us saviors (this tendency can be seen in the widespread - especially in the 1970s and 80s - conception of extraterrestrials/UFOs as being here to "warn us" or "save us" or "teach us.")

So, yeah, our neighbors, relatives and friends will instantly sign up to be second class beings, thinking themselves treasured pets, the minute the option is available. And they will insist that the rest of us do, too.

It is unfortunate that Frank Herbert passed away before he could fully explore the human power struggle when a machine intelligence is added to the mix.

Indeed, I mean the final destination, void of any other meaning, I mean, jesus. Incidental to his thoughts on AI, as if Lazarus, effectively, had come back instead of ascension. Factoring in everything, I mean.

Strangely, while the fantasy scenario of the dead rising from the grave, zombies, has huge traction in popular culture, the entirely possible scenario of robots turning on their masters is comparatively unexplored.

I,Robot, the Terminator films, The Matrix Trilogy. They aren't what's popular right now, the trend is zombies for now since vampires and werewolves had run their course for awhile, killer robots will come back soon enough once Hollywood has drained the zombie well dry but to act like the idea has been ignored is just ignorant of sci-fi history.

Smeggy Smurf:Farce-Side: Stone Meadow: None of this is a foregone conclusion. In fact, it's an unlikely outcome. But when the stakes are this high, unlikely consequences are still worth considering. DARPA wants to build a titan. Let's hope they also build a straitjacket strong enough to contain it.

Actually, I strongly suspect that his is one of the likelier outcomes. That, or worse. Besides, the genie is already out of the bottle and there is no stuffing it back. Our only REAL hope to avoid annihilation is to merge with these emergent beings as rapidly as possible...indeed AS THEY COME ON-LINE. Otherwise, we will quickly become an inconvenience to them.

Esroc:I say let the Robots take over. They can't do a worse job than we have. And all this talk about them "thinking like a human" is moot. They could never think like a human. They would not need food, sex, comfort, and a myriad other things that humans both require for survival and frequently slaughter each other over on a daily basis. Our entire human culture is built around our need for these things. A new species (which is what a truly sentient robot would be) that does not require these things would develop a culture so different that it is unlikely we would even be able to comprehend it.

The Robots will be the enlightened. We'll be the dirty racist monkey's trying to throw a wrench in their plans.

Maybe not as different as you think. They would have needs not all that dissimilar as ours. fuel sources, lubricants, parts for both repair and procreation. likely as they develop newer versions of the machines would look down on the earlier AI as lesser species. There would certainly be differences but likely they would be more superficial than you believe.

Fair criticisms. I have understated the constant presence of killer robots in sci-fi...although, in fairness, the paragraph being used to emphasize my ignorance actually starts with the sentence: "Killer robots have been the stuff of sci-fi since the genre appeared."

/there are 1024 programs running in this mobile platform, Shepard Commander//and they all agree, this article was dumb

Actually had to google that one. Not much for games these days. But just goes to show that this has to be the most commonly used trope in sci-fi. I seem to recall that even the Star Wars expanded universe (the novels) had some self-aware homicidal robot species.

It is unfortunate that Frank Herbert passed away before he could fully explore the human power struggle when a machine intelligence is added to the mix.

Indeed, I mean the final destination, void of any other meaning, I mean, jesus. Incidental to his thoughts on AI, as if Lazarus, effectively, had come back instead of ascension. Factoring in everything, I mean.

\\ eh, what you gonna do\ I'm a clone, I'm good and I'm fine .. .

Well I'll be damned. I completely forgot the void Herbert/ Ransom books. Lazarus Effect is one his best books. It has been nearly 20 years since I read them. Time to dig them out of the book box.